Blessed by a Nightmare
by A Lifeless Beauty
Summary: AU Kurando x Anastasia. Kurando is the adopted brother in the Romanov family, how will Anastasia deal with him when he comes to visit for Christmas? Chapter 3 up...finally!
1. Anastasia The Demon and I

**. Blessed By A Nightmare .**

Okay this is my first AU fiction. I know I should be working on my other one, but I wanted to try this out and see how it goes. Anyway it's Anastasia x Kurando I think Ana is still a little bit in character and her mother too. (Well duh, it's AU) Kurando acts different sorta though. I admit it's really creepy to me how I made him act but, that's why I'm testing it! Now, read and tell me what you think! You know you want to! I made Anastasia a bit older by the way... ;

This work of writing is dedicated to Tiger 5913, for giving me the inspiration of an Ana x Kurando fic. So girl, this one is for you!

Okay, here we go!

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_Prologue – The sweet smell of seasons_

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Christmas.

The time of year, I have dreaded ever since I could walk and talk.

The time of year, when my usually peaceful house is bombarded with my relatives.

The time of year, when I am forced to partake in stupid, pointless traditions, like pretending Santa Clause is real and that if you leave him some milk and cookies, he'll leave you the one thing you've been silently wishing for, instead of a large clump of coal.

The time of year, when I am endlessly questioned about my love life, or lack thereof, from my annoying aunts and uncles.

The time of year when I have to pretend that I actually like being chased around the house, jumped on and even used as a personal punching bag for my niece, nephew and cousins.

You see, in our household, we have a tradition whenever it comes to Christmas. Every year my _whole _family, (which includes my father and mother; my older sister Olga and her family; my other older sister Tatiana; and my mother's two brothers and their families) migrates to our house for four weeks to spend Christmas together.

I've always hated this tradition stating that it was pointless because every year something goes wrong and the holiday is ruined.

Nevertheless, my father insists on doing it every year because he's afraid that the family will drift apart if we don't.

However, this year, I was looking forward to Christmas.

Why?

Because instead of spending _four _weeks with my family, I was only spending _two_!

You see, during my last year of high school, which was this last year gone, my friends and I had decided to go away to the Black Sea coast for a couple of weeks at Christmas to unwind and to get away from our families.

I had already explained this to my father months ago and he had happily agreed with me at the time.

_At the time _being the operative words in that sentence, I might add.

However, as luck would have it, my _annoying _adopted brother called, unbeknownst to me, and announced that he would be returning home this year for Christmas.

He had left three years ago to go to a high school in Japan and hadn't been back since.

So you could imagine my delight when my mother turned around and decided to cancel all my plans _without _telling me or even talking to me beforehand....

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_Chapter one – The Demon and I_

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"She WHAT?" I yelled down the phone to one of my best friends, Karin. "How DARE she! I'm seventeen years old! She can't tell me what I can and can't do!" I added in a fit of rage as I paced up and down my bedroom.

"Okay, why are you telling _me _all this? _She's_ the one that _needs_ to hear it," Karin replied as calmly as possible. She was the calm and rational one of our relationship while I preferred screaming the house down until I felt satisfied I had had my say.

"Oh don't you worry about that Karin. She'll _want_ me to leave as soon as I've finished with her!" I slammed the phone down and stormed out of my room and down the stairs.

"Mother! Mom! Where the heck are you?" I yelled poking my head in and out of various rooms of the palace, all of which were occupied by my relatives in their fancy petticoats and feathered hats, sipping on their afternoon tea.

Gosh, it's like a zoo in here!

"Mother!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"You rang dear?" my mother said cheerfully popping up behind me. She was cradling my seven month old cousin on her hip while making baby noises at her. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Mom, you had no right ringing Karin and telling her I wasn't going to the Black Sea coast. It was my idea to go in the first place!"

"I know that my dear, but Kurando is coming home and..."

"Forget about damn Kurando, Mom!" I yelled frustrated. I saw her flinch at my language but chose to ignore it. "You and I both know that Kurando and I can't stand being in the same room together. Heck, the whole family knows that! Why do you think he never comes to visit?"

"And that's why you're not going," she said walking away from me. I immediately followed because I wasn't done yet.

"Mother, if you rang Kurando right now and told him that I was going away, he'd probably want to give me more money so that I would stay away longer!" I followed her into the kitchen where she put my cousin into the wooden high chair. "He and I are like oil and water. We don't mix and we never will!"

"Ana, you can scream at me all you want, you're not going. You are going to spend Christmas here with the whole family whether you like it or not. And you and Kurando are going to get along even if it kills you," she said. When I started to protest, she held her hand up and added, "You are not going Anastasia Romanov and that's final!"

I groaned loudly at her use of my full name before slamming my way out of the kitchen and back upstairs to my bedroom, yelling loudly, "I hate my life!"

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Two hours later, my phone started ringing loudly. Snatching it up, I said, "What?" to whoever was on the other line.

"What's wrong with you?" my other best friend, Lucia asked.

"I'm not going," I answered shortly.

"Not going where?" She asked with her complete stupidity of the situation.

"To the Black Sea coast with you all."

"...Huh? It was your idea though! What happened?"

"Well apparently, the devil incarnate has decided to grace us with his presence this year," I replied maliciously. "Gosh! He's not even here yet and already he's ruining my plans! He's like a terminal disease! Once he's infected something, he infects everything!" I whined falling back onto my King sized fluffy bed.

"Tee hee! So, when does the cutie get home anyway?" she asked.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," I replied.

"Just answer the question."

"Soon."

"Okay, give me a time range here so I know exactly when to come over but not seem too obvious that I'm there to see him and not you."

"Gee, it's good to know I'm loved by my friends," I replied dryly.

"Oh, I love you Ana, I just love Kurando more," she said laughing.

"God knows why."

"Oh I can tell you why if you want," she said quickly. "Because of his beautiful dark brown eyes, his luscious, jet black hair that falls into his eyes and that makes you just itch to brush it away, his lean figure that you just dream about at night, his calm and soothing voice that you could just listen to all day and night, his..."

"And on that note, I'll talk to you later Lucia," I said interrupting her.

"Oh, but I haven't told you about..."

"Bye Lucia," I said again hanging the phone up and shaking my head. I knew she was just doing it to annoy me; she didn't really have a crush on Kurando. I mean, who would? He's a sadistic, arrogant jerk who thinks he's God's gift to women under that innocent facade of his. Who on earth would find _that_ appealing?

"Anastasia? Are you still sulking in there?" my mother asked as she stood outside my bedroom door.

"I'm not sulking!" I yelled throwing a pillow at the wide royally lined door.

"It matters not. Look, Kurando is here, so come down and say hello."

"No thanks!"

"I wasn't asking young lady," she said sternly. Rolling my eyes, I got up from my bed and ran my fingers through my cinnamon hair. Opening my door, I walked down the hallway and half way down the stairs. I sat down and waited for his "highness" to appear. Everyone was waiting for him to come inside while I was wishing that lightening would strike him unexpectedly.

Then the front door opened and in walked Kurando, still in one piece.

"Kurando, it's good to have you home!" my mother said enveloping him in a hug.

"It's good to be home," he said kissing her cheek.

Suck up!

God he makes me sick!

"It's good to see you son," my father said shaking his hand and patting him on the back. "You don't visit enough."

I wonder why.

Everyone else in my family embraced him with open arms while I sat on the staircase glaring daggers into his back.

"Anastasia, come and say hello," my mother ordered with a glare in my direction. Standing up, I looked over at him and said, "Hi." Then, turning around, I started to walk upstairs.

"Not so fast young lady," my mother said. "Your father and I have something to say."

Okay, that does it!

Turning around, I said, "Must I remind you all that I'm seventeen years old? You treat me like a baby! I'm surely almost a full fledged adult!" I said angrily.

"Perhaps you should start acting like one then," Kurando said, grinning.

"Was I talking to you?" I snapped.

"Well, you didn't specifically say who you _were_ talking to so..." he let his sentence trail off with a nonchalant shrug.

"Specifically? Wow, a word with five syllables. Would you like some ice before your brain over heats?"

"Ice? Sure. Why don't you chisel some off of your heart for me? If you have one that is," he added with another grin. I don't know what came over me, but before I knew it, I was lunging at him with the intention of punching that stupid smug grin off of his face.

"You're an asshole Kurando you know that?" I yelled trying to free myself from my uncle's grip.

"Of course I do. After all, you keep on reminding me of the fact," he said coolly. I lunged at him again.

"Alright enough!" my mother yelled standing in between us. "Goodness, he's only been here five minutes and already you can't be civil towards each other." Looking over at my dad, she asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea? They might try to kill each other in their sleep."

I immediately stopped moving and stared at my mother. "Is _what_ a good idea?" I asked frowning.

"For the next four weeks, Kurando will be sharing your room with you Ana," she said calmly.

"WHAT!?" I yelled loudly. "You have got to be joking! There is no way in hell I'm going to spend the next four weeks sleeping next to that!" I pointed at him. "Who knows what he might do!" I said throwing my hands up in the air.

"Too bad. The decision has been made and that's final. Anastasia, show Kurando up to your room," My father had said. I watched helplessly as both my mom and dad walked out of the foyer and into the ball room. Soon the rest of my relatives left leaving me alone with Kurando. I turned to him and found him smiling.

"What the heck are you smiling about?" I snapped.

"Nothing. Just the look on your face," he replied with a shrug. "Come on sis, show me to your room," he said picking his bag up and walking up the stairs.

"You _know _where my room is you moron and I am _not_ your sister,_ Kuran_," I said using the first half of his name. It was something he and I both did to annoy each other. He would call me sis because he knew I didn't like to refer to us as brother and sister and that it annoyed me, and I called him Kuran because I didn't like his full name, which was Kurando .

"Don't call me Kuran," he said glaring at me.

"Then don't call me sis," I answered as we walked down the hallway to my bedroom.

Stopping outside the door, I turned to face him. "Don't touch anything that belongs to me and I won't touch anything that belongs to you and hopefully, we'll be able to last the four weeks without killing each other."

"Not likely," he replied pushing past me and into my room. Groaning, I looked heavenward.

"Somebody shoot me now!" I pleaded silently.

"That can be arranged you know." he said in his quit voice from inside my bathroom.

"Shut the heck up!" I yelled back slamming the door shut behind me before going to see what he was doing.

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There ya have it, now is this weird or what? Adopted Kurando in the Romanov Family. Leave a review if you like!

/ **_A Lifeless Beauty /_**


	2. Kurando When the Young Fall

**. Blessed by a Nightmare . **

Chapter 2 is roaring to go! The whole story switches off and on with Kurando and Anastasia. This chapter is in Kurando's view. I also did some research for 1900 actors and stuff. Go me!

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_Kurando - When the young fall_

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"What are you doing?" I asked with curiosity as I reluctantly opened the door to Ana's bedroom. She was standing in front of the bathroom door with her hands on her hips.

"What the heck does it _look _like I'm doing?" she snapped without even looking at me.

Ah, can't you just _feel_ the love in here?

"Well," I started slowly as I entered the room. "By the looks of you, I'd say you've been rearranging the room." I looked around the room and noticed that she had pushed her big king size bed to one side of the room, while my pathetic excuse for a bed (a mattress on the floor) was pushed against the opposite wall. Each had a single chest of drawers next to it.

"Wow," she said with fake exclamation. "He _does _have a brain after all. Wonders will never cease."

"You know, you shouldn't try to be funny because not only are your jokes _not _funny, they're quite lame too," I commented walking over to sit on her bed.

"And you shouldn't try to be ugly because…oh wait," she said with a fake gasp. "That just comes naturally."

She batted her eyes at me before walking over to the windows and opening them. "Oh and _Kuran_?"

"What?" I growled at her use of my name.

"Get the hell off my bed!"

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Looking at the floor, I noticed the line of tape on it. "Um, you do realize that there is tape on the floor don't you?" I asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, I put it there."

"Why…?"

"Because that way, we each have half of the room, except for the bathroom…that's not included. So, you stay on your side and I stay on my side."

"Why? Afraid I'm going to find your diary and read it?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Then, putting on a girl's voice, I made up an entry, "Dear Diary, I am so in love with John Barrymore! I hope I marry him some day!"

"Firstly, I don't keep a diary; I'm not that stupid. And secondly, the fact that you even _know_ his name makes me wonder whether _you're_ the one that has the crush or not."

I threw a pillow at her in response. She caught it easily and threw it back at me. "Didn't I tell you to get the hell off my bed?" she asked angrily. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"You know, for a seventeen year old, you sure know how to act like a twelve year old," I commented, slowly walking over to the door.

"Ha! You're one to talk. You're nineteen and find annoying me, amusing! What does that say about _your _maturity?"

"It's says that I'm mature enough to take a joke and to laugh at myself, whereas you start crying or swearing your head off whenever someone makes fun of you." I turned my back on her and walked out the door with a smile on my face. As soon as I shut the door, I heard her scream out loud and throw something at the door. Chuckling to myself, I made my way downstairs to listen to the radio.

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"Kurando, can you come in here for a second please?" I heard my father yell from his study. Groaning, because I was in the middle of my favorite radio program and studying, I got up and walked into his room.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I just got a phone call from your university," he replied looking up at me. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. I was hoping they wouldn't call; I wanted to be the one to tell him myself. "Care to explain why you dropped out without telling me?"

"Look Father, you and I both know that I'm not the academic kind. I did alright in high school but I just…I don't know…university isn't my thing. I don't want to waste your money and I don't want to get a degree in something I may never use. What would be the point? So I'm asking you to respect my decision and support me one hundred percent," I said as quickly as possible.

"I do support you. I just wish that you would have discussed it with me beforehand. However," he stood up and walked around his desk. "I also know that you are more like your real mother than you are me. She never wanted to be tied down to one thing for the rest of her life. She wanted to get out there and do anything and everything. She wanted to experience it all. So, whatever you do decide to do, I'll be behind you three hundred percent," he said with a smile and a pat on the back.

"Thanks Father, that means a lot." I turned to walk out when he stopped me.

"Do me a favor?" he asked.

"Anything."

"Go easy on Anastasia. I don't want anything bad to happen this Christmas okay? It's bad enough that she can't go away with her friends. She's also having a tough time deciding where to go to school and what she wants to do. So please, keep the taunting and teasing down to a minimum?"

"But that's why I came home this year," I said with a grin.

"Very funny," my father said before sitting back down. I turned and walked out of the study; his words still echoing in my head. Sighing, I walked back upstairs and into Ana's room. She was sitting on her bed with her back towards me playing with her Koto. I could hear her humming softly.

I leant against the wall and listened to her playing. She had gotten better in the last three years. I remember when I gave her the Koto as a birthday present way back then. She had looked at it in shock and then had stared at me. I had explained that playing the Koto was a relaxing thing to do and she seemed so stressed all the time so I thought it would be useful. She had then proceeded to say that I didn't know anything about her life and that Kotos were just a waste of time and space.

Two weeks later, she asked her mother to enroll her in some classes and now she was playing it almost professionally.

"What song is that?" I asked curiously. She stopped strumming and turned her head in my direction.

"Ainu no Ko no Odori," she replied standing up. She bent down to the floor and packed the Koto away. Sliding it under her bed, she straightened and stared at me.

"What do you want, _Kuran-san_?"

"I heard on the grapevine that you haven't accepted any university offers yet," I said walking in. She looked at me suspiciously. "What?" I asked.

"You heard on the grapevine?" she asked eyeing me. I nodded innocently. "Yeah right. You're not a very good liar Kurando. I know my father told you. He's been bugging me for months to make a decision. So you can tell him for me that I'm not going to. Not until I'm ready," she said picking up her blue winter coat and slipping it on.

"Do you mind if I ask who accepted you?" She stopped in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes. Sighing, she walked over to her dresser drawer and pulled out a display folder. Handing it to me, she said, "Leave it on my bed when you're finished snooping." Then she walked out the door.

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This chapter is kinda short, sorry about that. I didn't know what else to put in it at the moment. I think chapter 3 might be a little longer. Okay now then, John Barrymore was a famous actor in the Silent Film era, a lot of women thought he was a real cutie, but I think otherwise. pukes XD

The song "Ainu no Ko no Odori" is a Japanese traditional Koto piece that was modern during the time. Another name for it is "Ainu Children's Dance" and it was composed for shakuhachi byYuize Shin'ichi.

Now, a word for my few reviewers!

_**Celestia-** Glad you like it, as you see, I have updated!_

_**michelle- **Yep, the purpose of chapter one was supposed to be mildly humorous. Killing each other in their sleep, hm? Wonders will never cease. Heehee _

_**aegis- **muah I'm thankful that you read this and hope you read this part too. I never saw Much Ado About Nothing, so I have nooo clue. Maybe I should watch it sometime and see if it eerily stacks up._

_**Kaparzen- **Yes Karin and Lucia are her friends, you have a problem!? Heehee I didn't who else would be a good friend for Anastasia…._

_**Pichiaru- **So happy that a few people like Ana and Kurando, look I updated please read!_

_**Vi3tGirlMOMO-** How's your Xenosaga fic coming along? Kurando acts like Yuri? I didn't notice, I just tried to make Kurando cool and collected, Yuri on the other hand he's really loud and obnoxious. XD! Don't worry, I'll explain in the upcoming chapters about how Kurando ending up with the Romanovs. _

_**MoonRider**- Yaaay another reader! Yes, I know Kurando has red eyes but sometimes they look brown, and I wanted this to be more realistic since he is Japanese. I hated how they changed Yuri's eyes red! They're supposed to be brown, unless it's just the curse. But that still doesn't explain why Kurando has them! confused as hell_

_**Tiger5913- **Of course I dedicate this to you, silly! The other KurandoxAnastasia shipper! Heehee, well you've been begging and begging so here it is! I'm trying to update as fast as I can, but other things tend to get in the way. I don't wanna get over stressed, so I write this on my spare time. Anastasia sure does swear a lot… hmm. I myself just noticed. Well, it's better than Kurando swearing a lot, that just looks too funny. Love you dearly! kiss kiss!_

/ **_A Lifeless Beauty / _**


	3. Anastasia A Bitter Retreat

**. Blessed By A Nightmare .**

This chapter is a bit longer, sorry for those that were disappointed with chapter 2's length. And sorry for the long wait! More Anastasia and Kurando conflict for ya all!

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_Anastasia - A Bitter Retreat_

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I walked downstairs, after leaving Kurando to look over my acceptance letters, and headed for the phone only to be intercepted by my Aunt Lilliya. Rolling my eyes, I stopped and looked at her.

"What?" I asked annoyed.

"How are you feeling, dear? Want to talk? Is Kurando giving you any trouble?"

I forgot to mention that my Aunt is a Psychologist who's famous in Petrograd and makes it her mission to psycho-analyze every person that comes within fifty meters of her.

"Yes," I sighed heavily. "I'm feeling fine. No I don't want to talk and no, Kurando is not giving me any trouble. Now, will you please move out my way?"

Instead of moving, she started tsking away like I had done something wrong.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Nothing dear just that, if you ever _do_ need to talk, I'll be here for the next four weeks…"

"Unfortunately," I muttered under my breath.

"…so feel free to come and find me okay?"

"Not likely," I said moving past her and towards the phone. Picking it up, I rang Lucia.

"Speak," she answered.

"Don't you mean, 'Hello this is Lucia'?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"If I had meant that, I would have said that," she replied. "Now what can I do you for?"

"Is Carla home?"

"No. Just me and the annoying one," she said referring to her younger apprentice dancer, who wanted to be exactly like her. Lucia found it frustratingly annoying. I found it amusing.

"Mind if I come over? I need to see a friendly face."

"That bad huh?"

"You have no idea," I sighed.

"Okay, I'll call Karin too."

"Right. See you soon," I said hanging the phone up. Then, walking into my mother's quarters, I said to her, "I'm going over to Lucia's. I won't be late."

"Anastasia," she said following me to the front door. "The whole point of Christmas is to spend time with your family. And you can't spend time with your family if you're off doing god knows what with your friends."

"Well, I've got news for you mother," I started, opening the door. "Firstly, I'm seventeen years old, which makes me almost an adult and responsible for my own actions. Secondly, if you hadn't have gone behind my back and cancelled all the plans I had organized with my friends, I wouldn't be going to see them right now. And thirdly, if I'm forced to give up the comfort of my own room to someone you know I don't get along with, then the least you can do is butt out of my life and stop treating me like a ten year old."

And without giving her the opportunity to reply, I closed the front door in her face and walked out on the street.

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"You did WHAT?" Karin asked walking back into the lounge room. We were all sitting in there munching on popcorn and cookies when I told them about my little outburst. "And you're still alive?"

"For now," I mumbled.

"God, if I had said that to my parents, I would have been shipped off to live with my great Aunt in Germany. You know, the one who lives in the mansion and has guards in every room, including the bathrooms?" Karin said sipping her coke.

"You mean the one that doesn't trust any of her own servants and watches them constantly to see if they're stealing anything from her?" Lucia asked. Karin nodded and bit into another cookie.

"Yeah well, everyone I know in my extended family is currently residing at my house so she can't send me anywhere," I said.

"Yeah, but she _can _lock you in your room with Kurando for his entire duration or until one of you goes insane and tries to kill the other," Lucia added.

"Not helping," I said throwing popcorn at her.

"Hey! Watch the carpet missy! You know Carla will kill me if she finds one speck of dirt on this carpet!"

"Then why are we sitting in here?" Karin asked.

"Makes life interesting," Lucia shrugged. I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Anyway, back to Ana, how _is _the whole Kurando-living-in-your-room going?"

"Well, two minutes after arriving at my house, he proceeded to tell me that I was immature, that I didn't have a heart and that if I _did _have one, it would be as cold as ice. Then he did a complete one-eighty on me and actually acted civil towards me."

"Civil how?" they asked in unison.

"Well after having a little discussion with my father, he found out that I had not yet accepted any offers the universities were throwing at me. So he then came up to me and asked me why I hadn't made a decision yet and asked where I got accepted."

"Wow," Karin said admirably. "That is civil."

"It won't last," Lucia added.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well you two have way too much sexual tension it's enough to drive _me _insane." She shrugged casually and stuffed her mouth with more popcorn, while I choked on the popcorn that was currently in my mouth. Karin just sat there dumbfounded.

"I'm serious. It's so obvious. I think you two should just get it over with already."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" I shouted. "You're talking about me and Kurando having…_sex_," I whispered the last part because I knew her little apprentice was lurking around somewhere listening in.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's completely natural," she reasoned throwing her hands up.

"Not when it concerns me and Kurando it isn't. It's completely _unnatural_." I cringed at the thought. "He's my brother for god's sake!"

"You're not blood related so it's not incest if that's what you're worried about."

I looked at her incredulously. I couldn't believe what I was hearing!

"Are you serious about this Lucia…?" Karin questioned.

"No, I'm just saying it because of all the fun involved," she replied sarcastically.

"I think I'm going to throw up," I said leaning my head back and closing my eyes. "Can we please change the subject?" I asked.

"Why? This subject is interesting," Lucia said grinning.

"For you maybe," I answered. "For me, it's nauseating."

"Okay then, what did you have in mind?" The red head asked.

"Anything as long as it takes my mind off my family," I shrugged.

"Have you seen Joachim's brother? His name's Keith, he baked the entire class a big chocolate cake!" Lucia asked looking at me.

"No," I said shortly. "Nor do I want to."

"Ana, you have to get over this. It was a long time ago," Karin said.

"Easier said than done," I replied.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Lucia asked leaning forward. "Because it's okay if you do. I mean, it's understandable if you do."

"I don't know," I sighed. "I mean, I still care about him. Whether that's love or like a lot, I have no idea. Besides, we were never in a relationship. We were just friends."

I turned to my companions and found them staring at me. "What do you guys think?"

"Well," Karin started looking uncertainly at Lucia. "I think that deep down you do still have feelings for him but they're not genuine feelings."

"Meaning?"

"What I think Karin is trying to say," Lucia interrupted. "Is that maybe you feel like you _have _to have feelings for him and no one else because he was such a huge part of your life."

"So, I'm preventing myself from not having a complete friendship because I don't want to betray him even though I _can't _betray him?" I rephrased.

"Umm…more or less," Karin said.

"That doesn't make any sense," I replied shaking my head.

"In a weird way it does," Lucia said. "He was your first everything, Anastasia. First friend, first kiss, first…" she hesitated slightly. "First guy you slept with. It's understandable if you still feel some sort of connection with him. A connection you don't want to break or jeopardize. But the fact of the matter is; he isn't yours anymore. And that connection isn't really there anymore either. You just _think _it is."

I looked from Lucia to Karin and saw that she agreed with what Lucia was saying.

Deep down I agreed with what she was saying too.

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After watching a couple of silent movies at Lucia's, we decided to go back over to my house because we couldn't go to Karin's as her grandmother was in a cleaning frenzy and had told her to get out of the house for the rest of the day.

We arrived at my place ten minutes later and found Kurando and my five cousins (all below the age of ten) getting ready to play kick ball in the street. As we got out of the car, Kurando jogged over to us, much to my annoyance.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged back," Lucia said looking him up and down. "What brings you back to this neck of the woods?" she asked suspiciously.

I stared at Lucia with a big smile on my face. "What?" she asked looking at me.

"Lucia, we don't live in the _woods_," I pointed out.

"It's a figure of speech," she said trying to sound intelligent.

"I haven't been back in three years so I thought it was time to come home," Kurando answered.

"Liar," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said, liar. Why don't you just tell them you dropped out of the university in Japan?" I asked.

"Well now I don't need to, do I?" he replied. He turned to my friends and asked them if they wanted to play a game of soccer with them.

"No thanks, I'm going to go inside and find Lillya," Karin said walking away. "I want to ask what she thinks of where I'm going to university."

"How about you Lucia?" Kurando asked coyly. "Or are you afraid of a little competition?"

Lucia looked at me and smiled. "Sure, why not," she shrugged. "I haven't got anything better to do."

"Ana?"

"No thanks," I said. "I'd rather shoot myself."

"Well by all means, go right ahead," he said.

"Hey, who's referee?" Lucia asked frowning. Kurando turned to look at me with a smile.

"No," I said quickly knowing what that smile meant.

"You're not doing anything," he reasoned.

"No. The last time I refereed a game, you accused me of cheating!" I said hotly.

"Because you were!" he snapped. "A blind man could have seen I was tripped!"

"Come on Ana, please?" Lucia begged tugging on my arm.

"Oh alright!" I gave in. "But this time I don't want to hear any complaining from anyone!" I warned looking pointedly at Kurando. He held his hands up in defeat.

"Not a peep," he assured me.

They pulled me out into the street despite my protests that playing on gravel was not the safest thing to do, and I soon found myself standing in the middle of the road surrounded by five feral children and two adults who only wanted to hurt each other.

I must be nuts.

------------------------------------------------------------

Look I finally updated this. Okay the part when Anastasia was talking Joachim kind of made me sick, I was going to make her "first everything" Yuri. But Anastasia and Joachim are close buddies in the game... so I guess this makes more sense? I don't know. :P I know why no one reviews this, it's too weird! I get lot's of nice reviews on my other fics, but this? No. Haha

I don't care really, I'm just writing this because it's interesting and it's for my dear Tiger. – hugs her- Here's to my reviewers!

_**michelle **– Glad you liked it… and sorry for the long wait. I'm sorry for everyone!_

_**aegis** – Yes Kurando quit because... he's weird like that. And I hope you didn't look up John Barrymore. He's UGLY!_

_**Rhea **- I didn't find your review flamish at all. I mean, it wasn't aimed at me. So don't worry._

_**Vi3t Girl MOMO **– This one is a bit longer. Sorry for the wait for you too!_

_**Tiger5913 **– Heeey look I updated just for you!!! I hope you're happy with this chapter. I decided to write it because I mean, it IS your gift fic. You're writing mine, I finish writing yours. I hope you're not disappointed with this chapter. Doesn't have much Kurando. Just Anastasia and her problems. But I know you're happy anyway cuz I updated. Love ya!_

_**Kaparzen **– The new school is fine, I actually made a few friends. I'm still glad you're reading this fics even though you don't have much SH knowledge. Ha, silly. I appreciate you reading this though!_

_**llYuniell **– I myself, haven't decided what Anastasia picks for a university. Haha. But I'll figure it out. _

_**Rikainiel **- Yes, I love this couple too! And me and Tiger are "homegirls" so of course we both obsess over Kurando and Anastasia. My idea is original I know, but I hope it's not too weird. Because I think it is. Thank you reading! _

/ **_A Lifeless Beauty /_**


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